


Start Something Pure

by Starkgazing



Series: The Bourne Avenger [3]
Category: Bourne (Movies), Bourne Series - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because hey this is Tony Stark am I right, Bruce Banner & Jason Bourne Friendship, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, But let me tell you that Tony and Jason's relationship will be pUre, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Fluff and Angst, Get Together, Get excited because this is going to be a RIDE, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Man 3 Rewrite, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Title comes from that famous IM3 quote, We create our own demons, With Jason Bourne, Yes Tony and Jason get together in this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-01-17 01:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12354354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkgazing/pseuds/Starkgazing
Summary: IRON MAN 3 REWRITE // BOURNE AU"Is that... is that Tony on tv?" Bruce says slowly.It is. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you," Tony is saying. He's surrounded by reporters, and there's a look in his eyes—dark and remorseful, with a touch of guilt.Jason straightens. He knows instantly; something's wrong.»•«Or the one where Tony takes on a terrorist with one extra person by his side. (And along the way, they start something pure!)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys, here's the first chapter to our Iron Man 3 rewrite, "Start Something Pure". I have no idea how long this will be, so let's say 10 for now? Give or take 3 chapters lol. And if ya didn't see the tags, YES Jason and Tony get together in this one. So can I get a hell yeah? 
> 
> **ABOUT THE TIMELINE: The actual MCU timeline kinda confuses me and I always kinda assumed that the reason Tony had no backup in IM3 was because everyone was busy in their own movies. So for the purpose my verse, CA: The Winter Solider and Thor: The Dark World all take place at or around the same time. (That's also why I'm not rewriting said movies as well.)**
> 
> On with the story! (Also: please do NOT hesitate to tell me what you think or give me any constructive criticism cause I really don't know how well it turned out.)

The Avengers come back together in trickles. They converge at Stark Tower.

Jason and Bruce are the first to come, but they never technically split from Tony anyway. They join the billionaire at his tower on the first day, and never leave since then.

About a month later, Captain Rogers arrives.

JARVIS is the one to announce it; he tells Tony first, and then Jason and Bruce, after he is instructed to do so. All three members head down to greet the captain.

“Captain!” Tony greets pleasantly, no ill-will in his voice. Jason and Bruce are only a step behind him, and both are happy to see him as well, even though Bruce is the only one to show it with a smile.

“Mr. Stark,” the captain replies, just as friendly. “Doctor Banner, Mr. Bourne. It's good to see all of you.”

“Likewise,” Bruce says, while Jason nods.

“So, Captain,” Tony starts. Jason is only able to see the back of the genius’ head, but he fondly suspects the billionaire to be waggling his eyebrows. “You wanna come join us in our humble abode?”

Jason wants to snort at Tony’s use of “humble”, and he also doesn't miss the genius’ use of “our” instead of “my”.

“Call me Steve,” Steve says, smiling. “All of you.”

“That sounds like a yes.” Tony grins broadly.

And that's how Steve ends up with them. Apparently, in his time alone, the captain had gone on an impromptu tour around the country on his motorcycle. Tony welcomes Steve with open arms, gifting the captain with a floor on Stark Tower just as he had for Jason and Bruce.

After that, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton appear as a duo, requesting shelter at Stark Tower as well. But before they'd made it to the tower, it had been Jason who found them first.

»•«

“Mr. Bourne,” Natasha Romanoff says, betraying no emotion, even as Jason sees her shock. He figures it isn’t out of place, considering he’d snuck up behind them.

“Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton.”

Jason had been on an infrequent run out of the tower—out an unused exit and dressed casually enough to not be noticeable—when he’d spotted two familiar people just a couple miles away from Stark Tower. He followed the duo for a mile, to be certain of their destination, before approaching them.

“How are you doing?” Clint Barton says, an attempt at a icebreaker.

“Fine. You?” Jason gestures towards Stark Tower, which is looming in the skyline, tall and blue, with a large stylized A across the top. A, because Tony had never gotten around to fixing the Stark, but Jason’s pretty sure that the billionaire’s got other plans for the logo. “Headed there?”

Romanoff nods. “Yes. Director Fury felt that the team—”

“Would work better in one location,” Jason finishes for her. “I’m not surprised.”

“Is that a problem?” Clint speaks up hesitantly.

“Not that I’m aware of. But that’s not my decision to make,” Jason says. “I’ll lead you to the tower so that Tony will make the decision.”

At his statement, both SHIELD agents trade inconspicuous looks. Jason watches carefully, examining their exchange. Distrust. Not in him, exactly, although that suspicion is there. Skepticism, too. Neither agent seemed too confident that Tony would allow them to live in the tower. Jason had no doubt that the billionaire would welcome them with open arms.

Still, his mouth stays shut. He doesn’t bother reassuring them; he just turns and begins leading them to the back entrance that he always found himself using whenever he made a trip out.

The trip there is silent—not even footsteps could be heard as all three well-trained Avengers trekked. When they arrive at the backdoor, it opens as soon as Jason steps in front of it.

 _“Welcome back, Mr. Bourne,”_ comes JARVIS’ greeting as soon as Jason steps inside. Behind him, Jason feels both SHIELD agents stiffen imperceptibly.

“JARVIS,” Jason greets back. “Would you mind informing Tony that he has company for me?”

 _“Already done,”_ the AI replies, _“If you would just lead Agents Romanoff and Barton to the communal floor, Tony will meet you three there.”_ On cue, the elevator doors across the hall slide open.

Jason dutifully leads both agents to the elevator, and JARVIS queues up the floor for them.

“Who is that?” Clint Barton whispers into the silent air, as the elevator zooms upwards.

“Tony’s AI, JARVIS,” Jason explains. “He runs the tower.”

“Ah.”

A small beep sounds, signalling their arrival on the designated floor. The elevators doors slide open to reveal the Avenger’s communal floor, already fully furnished for when Jason knew Tony expected the every member of the team to arrive.

Jason steps out of the elevator with both agents hot on his heel, eyeing their surroundings with awe. Barton quite openly, and Romanoff less so.

“Welcome!”

All eyes dart to the person who had spoken, and there Tony is: slight ragged from being called from working in his lab, but wearing a new shirt and brilliant smile. “Why, if it isn’t Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Where’d you find them, buttercup?” The question is directed towards Jason, so he shrugs appropriately.

“What brings you two here?” The genius questions.

Jason shifts to stand in between the two parties, to not be a part of the discussion. Of course, what follows can’t really be qualified under the term “discussion” anyway.

Natasha moves as if to speak, but it’s Clint that beats her to the punch. He bounds forward eagerly. “We’re here to join the team.”

“Fury sent us,” Natasha finishes. Both agents straighten as they await Tony’s answer.

Slowly, Tony’s grin broadens. “Don’t you mean _rejoin_ the team?”

There’s an audible sigh of relief around the room, and that makes Jason want to smile as well.

In true Tony Stark fashion, Tony gifts each agent with whole floors on Stark Tower and gives them the grand tour. Because he has nothing better to do, Jason tags along.

Later, after Bruce and Steve join in the festivities of having two more members arrive on scene, the team almost shifts together.

There isn’t comfort, exactly, as far as everyone’s concerned—and sometimes tensions run high enough between select members that Jason is reminded of that first argument on the helicarrier—but otherwise, the team mostly makes it work.

Smaller groups are quickly defined, but these groups aren’t individual and are easily mended in between each other. Firstly, it’s Jason, Tony, Bruce as a main group, as the first three Tower residents. Jason thinks that they arguably have the closest bond. Still, Jason finds himself growing close with the other members as well.

He practices sparring with all three of them; with Steve the focus is more on strength, whereas with Natasha it’s technique, and with Clint it’s mostly speed. Sparring matches between the four of them is certainly the most invigorating part of his day, in contrast to his lengthy visits to Tony’s workshop or Bruce’s lab.

And then there are the small moments with each member: speaking Russian to Natasha whenever it comes up (they’d both been pretty surprised to learn that the other spoke the language, each knowing a wide array in general), spending time with Steve in order to assist him in acclimating to modern life (it’s never really mentioned, but Jason also needs the acclimating as well), and joining Clint in other everyday activities like video games (although Jason particularly enjoys target practice). With Bruce, there isn’t a need to do anything particular; sometimes he just rests in Bruce’s lab and usually Bruce will cook for him and whoever he invites that day. And with Tony, Jason probably spends the most time. Mostly, Jason joins the genius in his workshop, entertaining himself with Tony’s AI robots or just watching Tony work. Recently, Jason had even gotten around to giving Tony lessons in hand-to-hand combat.

Thor never actually shows up, but Jason once hears Tony offhandedly mention that the thunder god might've been briefly spotted in London before disappearing again. He isn't sure if the accuracy of the rumor, but he otherwise figures that the god was doing fine either way.

Although the thunder god is never really outright mentioned, everyone is still expecting him any day now. Tony had set a floor aside for Thor, and thanks to his cleaning bots the floor wasn’t collecting any dust.

So, that leaves six Avengers living in Stark Tower. When the next one arrives, it’s a cause for celebration. And surprisingly, that new member isn’t Thor.

»•«

“ _Phil?_ ”

Clint is the one who speaks. He breathes the name like a breath of new air, eyes wide and hopeful. “You’re here!”

And there he is. Phil Coulson stands proudly in front of the semicircle-formed Avengers, dressed in a new pressed suit with a gun strapped to his waist, sunglasses perched on his nose, and a headset attached to an ear.

The last time Jason had seen the agent, he’d been on the floor stabbed and bleeding to death. Now, Coulson looked almost like a new man.

“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

“Mark Twain,” Jason is the one to reply. “Good to see you’re not dead.”

Phil smiles. “That would be thanks to you,” he says sincerely. “So thank you.”

Jason shrugs. “It was no problem.”

With his part of the conversation over, it’s as if the invisible gate have opened. And then the true welcoming begins.

“Why is it ‘the reports of my death’, when we knew you were alive, Agent?” Tony pipes up, teasing with a touch of relief. What he says is true—not long after they’d first returned to Stark Tower, Fury he revealed Agent Coulson’s survival, as per Jason’s instructions.

“That’s why it’s exaggerated, Mr. Stark,” Phil replies with a smile.

“Will you be staying with us?” Natasha questions.

Clint nods eagerly. “Yeah, will you?”

Phil tilts his head. “If Mr. Stark will have me,” he says.

Every head turns to Tony, eyes focused expectantly, even as half the members already knew the answer.

“Pepper will be glad to see you again,” Tony says, which is the close enough to yes that Clint starts cheering.

“Welcome back,” Steve says respectfully, as Bruce says the same.

Looking back, Jason would say that this moment was the one where the team truly started to click. Of course, it figured that everything kind of fell apart the second the team was actually apart.

»•«

It starts with everyone gone. To make matters worse—not that Jason really registers the fact—it’s almost Christmas time.  

Natasha and Steve have gone on some classified mission for SHIELD, and Clint and Phil have gone a separate one of the same caliber. That left Jason, Bruce, and Tony at the tower.

Not long after, Tony leaves as well, accompanying Pepper and Happy to his Malibu mansion, where he would be staying for a short period of time for an event with SI, leaving Jason and Bruce as the last occupants of Stark Tower.

For the last couple months, there had been on-and-off reports of a new terrorist by the name of the "Mandarin". The only one who Jason truly saw agitated by this was Steve, who found himself bothered by a lot of threats. Phil, Natasha, and Clint were slightly bothered as well, but they did a better job at hiding it. All three worked for SHIELD, so Jason figured that they probably knew more than they let on.

Bruce never really commented on the Mandarin, and neither did Jason or Tony. Jason himself felt mostly neutral towards the man; the short news reports and analysis painted the man more as a showman than a terrorist, and with Tony's friend, Rhodey—his armor newly dubbed "Iron Patriot"—on the case, he figured the man would soon be caught.

But Jason soon finds himself playing a bigger role than he'd predicted, after Tony gets dragged in first.

Jason and Bruce are having dinner when it begins.

"Is that... is that Tony on tv?" Bruce says slowly.

It is. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you," Tony is saying. He's surrounded by reporters, and there's a look in his eyes—dark and remorseful, with a touch of guilt.

Jason straightens. He knows instantly; something's wrong.

"I know you're a coward, so I decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body," Tony says boldly on the screen. "There's no politics here, it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon. It's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880 Malibu Point, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked."

He turns to the reporter, yanking the smartphone out of the man's hand and tossing it onto the cement. "That's what you wanted, right?" With finality, he enters his car. Flippantly, he finishes, "Bill me," and then drives off.

A beat passes. The news report shifts topics.

"What just happened?" Bruce finally questions aloud. "Did Tony just... announce his address on national tv?"

Jason nods resolutely, if a little glumly. "To a terrorist, I might add."

"He didn't look so good on tv," Bruce points out.

Jason agrees. "I'll go help him."

"Now?" There isn't any protest in Bruce's voice, barely even a hint of surprise.

"We should probably call first." Jason decides. "It looked like Happy was the newest victim to the Mandarin. Other than Pepper, Tony's alone, and now there's a terrorist after him. One of us should be there."

Bruce nods. "He needs a friend."

»•«

Tony’s day had been going well. Until everything had gone to shit.

Officially, he’d come to his Malibu home for a small series of meetings for SI. Off the record, however, Tony had decided to go to Malibu to get away. He wanted distance. Not from the team, exactly, and definitely not from Jason or Bruce, but—

Well. Distance.

Lately, he’s been having trouble sleeping, which wasn’t necessarily a large problem in itself… until Jason took notice. The ex-assassin had never commented on it, although Tony just _knew_ that the man was waiting to discuss it. For what, Tony never figured out; maybe for Tony to mention it himself, or maybe for it to become a larger problem. But then _Bruce,_ of all people, took notice as well, and that’s when Tony knew he had to hightail it out of there, under the guise of a planned Malibu trip.

He’d secretly been hoping that the relaxation and tranquility that the soft waves of Malibu provided would help lull him to sleep at night, but that ultimately did nothing either. Not to mention, the lack of sleep appeared to be affecting him negatively as well, because lately he’s been behaving irregularly; when he’d finally gotten the chance to meet up with Rhodey, somehow, the mere mention of New York from some kid asking for an autograph had sent him into a panic attack. _A panic attack._ He’s never had panic attacks before, but suddenly getting them now? Not a good sign.

And now this?

Okay, so maybe everything hadn’t been going _too_ great before, but this certainly hadn’t made his day better. Now, Happy was in the hospital, a terrorist was probably now hunting his hide, and he’d just irrevocably put Pepper in danger, with Happy possibly even more so. And to make matters worse, he _still couldn’t sleep._

Tony’s heart is racing even faster than his car as he drives way past the speed limit on the freeway. He isn’t entirely worried about crashing; after all, his car has JARVIS installed and he trusts his AI to keep him from dying a fiery car crash death.

 _What the hell did I just do?_ His grip tightens on the steering wheel.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he scolds himself blearily. _Your whole address? Really?_

He’s barely aware of his location as his car pulls into his Malibu driveway. But even after the car parks, he finds himself just sitting there in the driver's seat—his head in his hands.

_What the hell do I do now?_

“JARVIS,” Tony says aloud, his voice small in the suffocating silence. “That wasn’t a good idea, was it?”

 _“Not really, sir,”_ JARVIS replies instantly. _“But that can’t be helped now. May I recommend calling for backup?”_

“Backup?” Tony says lowly. “No. I don’t need it, and besides, I think everyone’s busy. Half the team’s on SHIELD missions, and the other half—”

The smooth beat of the James Bond theme song suddenly interrupts him. Tony freezes.

His eyes dart to his phone, which sits innocently in his car’s cup holder. Vibrating and ringing.

 _“Sir, it appears that Mr. Bourne is calling you,”_ JARVIS pipes up helpfully. _“It would be in your best interests to pick up the phone.”_

Ignoring the weird butterflies that suddenly flutter in his stomach, Tony swallows thickly.

With shaking hands, he picks up the phone.

“Hello?” The familiar voice sounds so damn refreshing, Tony registers, in the midst of his wildly chaotic last few hours.

“Hey, buttercup,” he says, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

“Tony, you sound tired,” the voice on the other line says. There’s a note to it, a warning almost, but Tony hears the concern in it, and that’s what’s making him waver most.

He tries for casual. “So… you must’ve seen the news.”

Tony hears a faint familiar snort on the other line, and belatedly he realizes that he must be on speakerphone.

“You could say that,” Jason says.

“Announcing your address on live tv, Tony? Really?” Bruce says scoldingly.

“Don’t forget it was to a terrorist,” Jason adds, to rub salt on the wound.

“Ah, yes,” Bruce says, filled with sarcasm. “Couldn’t forget that.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t look pretty on you, jolly green,” Tony tries weakly, feeling oddly warmed by the light berations coming from the other line.

“You just threatened a terrorist on live tv,” Bruce shoots back. “I’m not sure if I should trust your judgement right now.”

Tony smiles at the light banter, feeling his spirits even rise a little. “Whatever you say, Bruce-Bear.”

“Are you alright, Tony?” Bruce finally asks. Kind Bruce, who’s voice is suddenly thick with worry.

“I…” Tony doesn’t know where to start. “Yeah,” he finishes lamely.

“Is Happy doing okay?” This time, it’s Jason that speaks.

“He’s—” Tony swallows around the sudden lump in his throat. “He’s not dead. The doctors say he’ll live.”

“That’s good.” Bruce says, relieved. “Do you want to tell us what happened?”

Tony gulps. “No, not really.”

There’s an audible sigh on the other line. “That’s your choice,” Bruce says, “But I’m gonna go get a cup of tea.”

He hears shifting for a moment, and then there’s a heavy silence.

He waits, not knowing what to expect.

“What were you thinking?” _And there it is._ Tony winces. He’d been waiting for that line all call, and the way that Jason had said it hadn’t helped. Soft and calm, so unlike the former assassin and still completely like him. It was one thing to sound done, it was another thing entirely to sound disappointed. Tony hates disappointment.

“It’s just, Happy—” Tony begins, the long drawn battle to defend himself, when Jason interrupts.

“No, I get it,” Jason says. Tony sucks in a breath. _That’s new._ “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

A beat passes. Tony decides to try again. “I—”

“I’m not disappointed in you,” Jason says, interrupting again.

Tony freezes in his tracks. “How did you—”

“I know you, Tony,” Jason says, softly again. So softly, for the man who barely speaks. Tony melts. “Like I said, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. But I’m on my way.”

Tony stops. “Wait. I'm sorry, _what?_ ”

“I said I’m on my way,” Jason repeats. “So try not to do anything else stupidly dangerous in the meantime, alright?”

“But, but,” Tony doesn’t know how to respond. “How will you get here? And what about Bruce?”

“Bruce will be fine on his own,” Jason says. In the background, Tony hears a faint, _“And he has my blessing!”_

“And I figure I can hop on a plane and get there in maybe just under 5 hours,” Jason finishes.

“What? No, no,” Tony says frantically. “You don’t need to come.”

“Why?” For a man who mostly spoke without emotion, Jason sure didn’t sound convinced. Or surprised, for that matter. 

“Well, first of all there’s the time difference,” Tony says insistently. His mind whirs as he tries to think of some plausible excuses. Fortunately, he’s a genius. “Malibu is 3 hours ahead of New York, and it’s pretty late here already. What is it, like 8 in New York? No, imagine coming here. The time difference would be a nightmare, you’d be half asleep!”

To his dismay, Tony hears muffled chuckling on the other line. Followed by outright laughter from Bruce.

Okay, so maybe not so genius in _that_ department.

“Hey!” Tony pouts. “It’s an actual problem. Ever heard of jet lag?”

“Tony,” Jason begins, silencing his chuckles. “You are aware that Bruce and I came here from India? That’s almost a 10 hour time difference.”

Tony feels his face grow hot. “Of course I remembered,” he says indignantly. “But that doesn’t mean that jet lag won’t still be a serious problem!”

“Okay,” Jason says amusedly. “If you want to go with that excuse, fine. But what’s your real reason for not wanting me to come?”

“Because,” Tony starts. “Because—” _Because of the reason I left!_ He thinks, _Because I don’t want you to see me like… this._

He bites his tongue. “Because I can handle this on my own. I don’t need help.”

This time Jason actually laughs. One of those laughs that Tony knows he only does for the benefit of other people. The “ _I-don’t-tend-to-laugh-or-really-show-emotion-at-all-but-I’ll-do-it-to-show-you-how-silly-you’re-being”_ laugh that Tony knows was probably just invented when Jason joined Bruce and the rest of the Avengers.

“To answer that, I’ll quote Bruce,” Jason says, “‘You just threatened a terrorist on live tv, I’m not sure if I should trust your judgement right now.’”

Tony sniffs. “That just sounds like double teaming. How’s that fair? I’m the victim.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’ll be arriving within 5 hours.”

“At least wait till morning,” Tony tries one more time, desperately. “So you can get a good night’s sleep and jet lag won’t be as bad. Besides, what could happen in one night? I have my suit here—“ _Or 50._ “—which, by the way, I managed to implement a new feature which allows the suit to come to me without the bracelets—so I think I can handle a night.”

“Tony.” It isn’t even Jason who speaks, but Bruce, who begins, “You know it’d be better if Jason—”

“Come on,” Tony begs. “I can even get the Stark private jet to bring him here in the morning, but why waste a perfectly good night in New York on a plane? We can wait.”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Jason says.

“I don’t want you to have to sneak on a plane,” Tony insists. He isn’t actually sure how Jason would get himself on a plane, but it was certainly more complicated than having a private jet at his disposal right?

“Fine,” Jason finally concedes. “I’ll head over tomorrow if you insist. But you have to make me a deal.”

“Yeah?”

“Keep your phone on you at all times, okay?” Jason requests. “Don’t lose it or forget it.”

“Sure,” Tony agrees instantly. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Jason says. “Bye Tony.”

“Bye Tony!” Bruce echoes.

“Bye Bruce, and see you Jason,” Tony says.

The phone hangs up, and Tony instantly slumps in his seat. He spends a moment just sitting in the car and thinking.

He’d wanted Jason to come tomorrow and not tonight partly as a courtesy to his friend, but also for himself. He’d wanted another night to himself, alone to see if he could go to sleep and not be so tired. He doesn’t have his hopes high for that, but still.

Somehow, after that call, he realizes that he feels… lighter. Better.

 _Maybe… running away from them isn’t the answer._ He thinks. He doesn’t know. _Maybe they can help me after all._

Something swells in him; something close to comfort. Jason would be here soon, he realized. Jason could help him.

But before that, he decides, he'll use his alone time to work on his own. Find out whatever information he can, first.

 _After this mess is sorted out,_ he promises himself. _Then I’ll fix everything else._


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT: Something went wrong with the original posting of this chapter, so if you got multiple email notifications, I'm so sorry!!**
> 
> Hi guys! Regarding chapter one, I changed a couple things after I first uploaded it (added like 200 more words I think). If you wanna check that out, go on and do that! But if you don't, it wasn't really important. Just added some consistency to the story because I hadn't gotten the chance to watch the movie yet.
> 
> Good news, I finally got the chance to watch the beginning of Iron Man 3 again. Wow, I forgot how great it was *-* Speaking of, everyone remember darling, adorable Harley? **His actor just got confirmed to be a part of Avengers 4!!!!!** This was announced literally today, and I'm freaking out. HARLEY'S BACK!! That means Peter and Harley might meet. Ahh, Tony's two sons! (Hopefully this isn't because of a sad/bad reason tho T^T)
> 
> On with the chapter!

The trip from New York to California is interesting because Jason gets the chance to watch as the snowed down streets of New York City are traded with the sunny beaches of Malibu. Of course, he doesn’t really pay much attention to that after he’s about halfway through his flight. That’s because he gets a first class ticket to see Tony’s mansion explode on live TV. 

_ Fuck,  _ he thinks, and instantly his phone is in his hand. Without looking, he dials Bruce’s number, unblinking as his eyes stare at the screen. 

The call connects on the third ring, and Jason doesn’t wait for a greeting before he says, “Turn on the tv.”

He hears shuffling as Bruce obliges. 

On screen, Jason watches as Tony’s mansion falls, fire catching inside as the walls crumble like paper. Helicopters armed with missiles hover above menacingly, unrelenting to the beautiful house below. The words flash “TONY STARK DEAD?” boldly at the bottom of the live news report. 

“Where are you?” Bruce asks urgently through the phone.

“I’m about halfway out.”

Bruce sighs his familiar frustrated sigh. “You think he’s in there?”

_ Only one way to find out,  _ he thinks. 

Mutely, Jason mutters, “JARVIS?”

Tony had installed JARVIS on both Jason’s and Bruce’s phones after they’d both taken a liking towards the AI. The beauty of the brand new modeled Stark Phone was that it could be in a call with Bruce and use JARVIS at the same time.

_ “Yes, Mr. Bourne?”  _

“Was Tony in the Malibu mansion as this was happening?” 

There’s a pause, almost as if JARVIS was hesitant to answer. Finally,  _ “Yes.” _

He hears someone suck in a breath—Bruce, through the phone—but Jason himself only goes still.

“Is he still in there?”

_ “At the moment, yes,”  _ JARVIS says. 

“...Is it looking good in there, JARVIS?” Bruce speaks up.

Jason’s gaze is focused on the tv, as the screen projects the mansion crumbling by the second. He knows the answer before JARVIS gets to speak.

_ “Not so great, Doctor Banner.” _

“Mind giving us an update?” Bruce requests.

_ “Sir was in the living room with Ms. Potts and a woman named Maya Hansen at the time of the attack,”  _ JARVIS begins.  _ “Instead of putting the suit on himself, he sent it to Ms. Potts to bring her and Ms. Hansen to safety outside of the building.” _

“And what about Tony?” Bruce prompts urgently.

_ “Sir then called the suit back to himself and is now attempting to fight his attackers with the suit.”  _ JARVIS pauses.  _ “Unfortunately, he’s wearing a prototype suit that is not at full power.” _

Jason sees some well aimed, bright beams flash—repulsor blasts, presumably—and fire, and then a helicopter drops. Followed quickly by another, leaving one to continue attacking.

Bruce curses under his breath. On screen, the mansion is only deteriorating, beginning to leave more rubble than house. “How’s it going now? What’s happened?”

_ “The house became too unstable and Sir fell into the ocean.” _

Jason goes cold. The news cameras hadn’t shown any sign of an Iron Man suit going down, just the house fully collapsing.

“Is the suit waterproof?” Bruce barks.

_ “Yes,”  _ JARVIS replies, narrating live.  _ “But damage to the suit is allowing water to seep in. Sir is trapped under some rocks at the bottom of the ocean. I just used his gauntlet to pull him out.” _

“How is he?” Bruce presses.

_ “Alive,”  _ JARVIS informs.  _ “I am piloting the suit to a safer location, but I fear that the suit will soon run out of power. When that happens, I will lose communication with him.” _

“Where is he?” Jason finally speaks up, his tone sharp. 

_ “I am piloting him to Rose Hill, Tennessee.” _

“Wait, what?!” Bruce yelps, at the same time Jason blanches. “Why are you bringing him all the way to Tennessee?”

“It’s cold there, JARVIS. There’s snow. Tony doesn’t have the clothes for that,” Jason adds. “What’s in Rose Hill?”

_ “It was the preset flight I had planned,” _ JARVIS explains unhelpfully.  _ “Sir was planning on visiting to investigate the Mandarin.” _

“The Mandarin?” Bruce echoes incredulously. “But what about Jason! Is that why Tony wanted Jason to come later?”

_ “Oh no,”  _ JARVIS says.  _ “Sir was planning on bringing Mr. Bourne with him to Rose Hill. He just never got the chance to inform him.” _

“And now he’s heading there on his own.” Bruce sighs. Jason can just imagine the doctor pinching the bridge of his nose. “Will you head there to intercept him, Jason?”

Jason runs through the probabilities in his head. “Does Tony have his phone on him, JARVIS?”

A beat passes before JARVIS’ response, in which Jason’s pretty sure the AI must be scanning or asking his creator.  _ “No, he doesn't,”  _ JARVIS says apologetically.  _ “I believe he had it and lost it at some point during the attack. Currently, Sir is passed out inside the suit.” _

“Okay.” Jason comes to a decision. “How fast can you get me to that Malibu mansion?”

_ “Abiding by the law?”  _ JARVIS asks, a valid question.

“The fastest.”

“Within safety standards,” Bruce cuts in pointedly. “Whatever situation Tony’s in, shaving those 10 minutes won’t be worth it if you die in a plane crash, Jason. Also, you mind elaborating on your decision?”

“Tony will be able to handle himself in Tennessee, for at least a little while on his own. Even without his phone, I’ll be able to find him. In the meantime, I want to head to Malibu so that I can check the mansion for any clues, and then I’ll meet with Pepper. Tony will want me to get her to safety.” Jason explains his thought process. 

Bruce hums in understanding.

“The fastest you can go within safety standards, JARVIS.”

The AI doesn’t miss a beat. “It will take approximately one hour and a half, if I take control of the jet and pilot it remotely.”

“Do it.”

»•«

She stands in the rubble of Tony’s Malibu mansion—what once was the epitome of cutting edge technology and beauty—and thinks to herself,  _ it’s gone. It’s all gone, gone, gone. _ Turned to dust in two minutes, by the same terrorist who had hurt her bodyguard and friend. And now, Tony might be gone, too; dead, because he chose to save her instead of himself.

In this moment, Pepper Potts wants to be strong. She wants to be Tony’s own Avenger, someone who will hunt the Mandarin down and pull him apart limb by limb. For what he did to her life. For what he did to Tony. And yet, Pepper finds herself drained. Looking at what was left behind, seeing the remains of her’s, of Tony—her  _ best friend? Boss? Lover’s? _ —life.

She wants to cry. She wants to crumble to the ground, fall into the devastation and curl up and sob. But she doesn’t. 

Because she doesn’t have enough energy for that either.

It’s been almost an hour and a half since the attack. An hour since police and fire crew and FBI and news crews have arrived to check the place out, swarming the “crime scene”, like moths to a dying flame. They attempted to coax her into following them, to aid her or maybe even to question her, but she snapped away, refusing. 

Only an hour ago, Tony had been announced missing in action. And then thirty minutes later, he’d been pronounced dead. Smart as she was, Pepper could barely grasp it. 

_ Tony? Dead? Tony  _ Stark?  _ Impossible. _

Warily, Pepper approaches the ruins. Alone. She refuses to have anyone else—and certainly no strangers—with her for this moment.   


Everything around her is charred and broken, nearly unrecognizable. Nothing like Tony’s previously beautiful home. Immediately, she picks out a fallen Iron Man mask within the ranks of debris. She approaches cautiously, picking the rusted and cracked helmet up. Between her palms, the helmet feels cool to the touch, scratched up but otherwise unharmed. She holds it gingerly, lifting to press it to her forehead.

A faint beeping alerts her to something off. She flips the helmet around to its back. Hope soars in her chest when she sees a red flash go off inside, and she instantly pulls the helmet onto her face. 

The helmet powers up without prompting.  _ “Stark Secure Server,”  _ a female voice announces,  _ “Retina scan confirmed.” _

And then a familiar voice speaks.  _ “Pepper, it’s me.”  _

The sound of Tony’s voice makes her want to cry—she can’t help the smile that forms instead.

_ “I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time, so…”  _ Tony continues, _ “First off, I’m so _ sorry _ I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. Also, it’s Christmas time and the rabbit’s too big. Done. Sorry.”  _ The words are so silly and unrelated that Pepper nearly giggles. She suddenly feels a little giddy, from happiness and relief. 

_ “And I’m sorry in advance, because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy.”  _ Pepper hears the steel of determination in Tony’s voice. _ “But you gotta stay safe. Jason—you remember Jason?—was supposed to be arriving this morning to meet me. I want you to find him and go with him. He can protect you because I couldn’t.”  _ There’s a deep sigh, and Pepper knows that message must be coming to a close. _ “I gotta go. I’m sorry. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian.” _

The helmet powers off as the message fades away. Leaving Pepper only to her thoughts.

_ Jason?  _ She remembers a “Jason” faintly, from when Tony had introduced her to the new occupants of Stark Tower. She recalls a Jason sticking close to Doctor Banner, and looking back, she remembers wondering if this Jason was one of the newly dubbed “Avengers” as well. 

_ He seemed nice enough,  _ she thinks to herself.  _ Honest. Polite. He’s coming here? _

A tap on her shoulder yanks her out of her thoughts. 

Pepper swerves around, throwing the helmet off her head, and is met with the sight of the woman she’d saved. The botanist, Maya Hansen, one of Tony’s many previous one night stands, who had been in the house when they’d been attacked.

“Maya,” Pepper greets brusquely. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we talk?” Maya asks, shifting on her feet. Her eyes dart from side to side. “Somewhere in private? Somewhere safer?”

Pepper feels a pang of pity for the other woman. She’d been a part of the attack as well, so of course she might feel a little traumatized. Plus, the woman must have shown up at the house for a reason. Maybe for something important?

Pepper tilts her head, thinking it over. She could bring Maya somewhere safer, and then they could discuss. 

“I think that can be arranged.”

Tony had told her to meet up with his friend Jason, but she figures that could wait. Afterwards, she reasons, she can contact Jason and stay with him. 

For now, she has some information to dig for.

»•«

JARVIS parks the private Stark jet in a small abandoned parking lot about a mile and half off of (what remained of) Tony’s Malibu mansion. Jason has no trouble making the hike over to there. 

As soon as he’s near, he’s greeted with the sight of the Stark Malibu house in ruins, swamped with firefighters, reporters, and police forces roaming all over the place. It isn’t hard to pick out Pepper Potts in the midst of it all. Her red hair is like a beacon amid the rubble, her white suit dress still somehow pristine, only covered in the occasional dirt stain or smudge. He sees that she’s clutching an Iron Man helmet in her arms whilst conversing with another young woman with brunette hair. 

Jason effortlessly merges within the crowd of people, sweeping past them easily. No one pays him any heed, not the guards standing near the edge, by the yellow caution tape border, nor the reporters speaking, with their microphones and cameras.

He heads towards Pepper’s location, looping around so that he can eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Can we talk?” The brunette woman asks nervously. Her face is somewhat scratched and her outfit is covered in dust. She stands gingerly on her two feet, shifting as if she were in pain. “Somewhere in private? Somewhere safer?”

Jason narrows his eyes at the request. 

Ms. Potts tilts her head in thought. After a moment, she nods. “I think that can be arranged.”

Jason chooses that moment to join in, aware that Pepper just might make a decision that she wouldn’t be able to reverse. 

“After you give her a reason to accompany you,” he says, striding forward like a ghost.

Both woman jump at the intrusion, stiffening in surprise. Pepper’s eyes jump to Jason’s form, as the brunette woman spins around. 

“Who are you?” The brunette asks in surprise.

“You’re here,” Pepper says at the same time, eyes shining more in relief than surprise.

“Hello, Ms. Potts,” Jason says. He steps forward assertively, falling smoothly into place beside the red haired woman. “You were expecting me?” What he doesn’t say:  _ Did Tony contact you? _

“Yes, I—” She starts. “I didn’t think you’d arrive so quickly.” What she means:  _ Yes. _

Pepper clears her throat, directing her attention towards the mystery brunette woman. “Maya, this is Tony’s—and my—friend, Jason. Jason, this is Maya. A… botanist.”

The second the words leave Pepper’s mouth, Jason catalogues the information away.  _ Maya, _ he notes,  _ as in Maya Hansen, the woman who had been present when the house was attacked.  _

Jason examines the woman again. The way she held herself, the look in her eyes—she looked like she was here to do good, but Jason suspected that her intentions weren’t quite pure. A botanist?  _ No,  _ he knows instantly. This woman didn’t have the eyes, nor the hands for  _ only  _ botany. There was no doubt about it; this woman was a scientist.

And she was not to be trusted.

“Nice to meet you, Maya. I’m here to take Ms. Potts away and to keep her safe, ” Jason says, pleasantly enough. He turns to Pepper. “Ready to go?”

“Actually—” Both women protest at the same time.

Sheepishly, Pepper informs, “Maya wanted to tell me some things, I think.” 

The brunette nods in affirmation. “Important information.”

“If it’s important, then she can accompany us,” Jason agrees swiftly. “But I’m here to protect you, Ms. Potts. And that may even mean from her.” He deftly leans over to Pepper’s shoulder, whispering lowly in her ear, “I don’t trust her.”

Pepper stiffens imperceptibly.

“Yes, I’m sure Maya can accompany us for at least the journey,” Pepper says without a hitch.

That gets a sigh of relief from Maya, and a new observation to file away for Jason.

»•«

“Why were you at the house tonight? What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?”

Jason is driving the car that Pepper had pointed them to, and Pepper is seated shotgun while Maya sits in the backseat. 

Pepper is the one to ask the question, turned halfway around to meet Maya’s eyes.

“I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin,” Maya says solemnly. Pepper’s eyes widen. “So if you want to keep talking about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe.”

“This car should be safe enough,” Jason cuts in. “So whatever you need to say, you can say it here.” To punctuate his point, Jason pulls into the abandoned parking lot that the private jet was currently parked at. “After your explanation, Pepper will leave with me on this jet. If you check out, you can come with us.”

The whole time he speaks, Jason keeps his eyes forward and blank. Emotionless. He watches Maya’s reaction through the rearview mirror. He doesn’t miss it as she clenches her jaw.

“Your boss works for the Mandarin, you  _ think? _ ” Pepper says frantically. “But Tony says you're a botanist. So…”

“That figures.” Maya snorts. “What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank. But sure, you can call me a botanist.”

Jason notes that the woman, however sarcastic, isn’t lying. 

“This boss of yours,” Pepper says. “Does he have a name?”

“Yeah. Aldrich Killian.”

Pepper’s jaw drops.

Jason doesn’t know who the man is, but from Pepper’s reaction, he knows that she does. And he also must be important.

“Why are you here?” Jason finally interrupts, before Pepper gets the chance to question anymore. He hasn’t gotten been able to contact Tony yet, and he knows that the genius must be awake by now. Time was starting to run out; if Jason didn’t get there before Tony acted, then he might be too late.

“Tell us why you came here,” Jason pushes on, “And we’ll let you come with us.”

“I—” Maya rears back as if struck. “I came here to warn you. Pepper and Tony, I came to warn them.”

Jason eyes her coolly. He’s never met anyone who could successfully lie to him before, and she is no different. There are a hundred little signs, from her blinking eyes to her twisted mouth to the way she holds herself. Jason doesn’t need to put it to words; he just  _ knows.  _ “Liar,” he declares. 

“I’m not lying!” Maya protests valiantly, but Jason sees her shock. She’s mostly surprised that Jason had seen through her so quickly and correctly. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he notices Pepper watching the exchange in dawning apprehension. 

“You may not be lying, but you’re not telling the whole truth, either,” Jason counters. “Why  _ else _ did you came here?”

“I didn’t—” Maya stumbles, running out of words to say. “I just came to warn them.”

“That’s not true,” Jason says. “You came here for another reason, one that you aren’t willing to divulge. Possibly even multiple reasons.”

Jason reads through her like a book. She really did come to warm them, but he knows that she was probably just playing the long game. 

Maya turns to Pepper in desperation, realizing that trying to sway Jason would be futile. “Pepper, please,” she begs. “I have more information.”

“I’m sorry, Maya,” Pepper says apologetically. “But I think Jason’s right. You’re lying.”

“No, no, no,” Maya tries frantically. “I’m not. I just need—”

“I’m sorry, Maya,” Pepper repeats, interrupting the panicking woman. “But I need to go, and I think you do too.”

She points at the door closest to Maya, who lowers her head defeatedly. 

“Fine,” Maya finally sighs, casting a dark look at the both of them. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She steps out of the car without a fuss. 

“Wait,” Pepper suddenly calls back, stepping out of the car. Jason quickly moves to follow her, yanking the keys from the ignition. “I don’t want to leave you stranded here with no transportation. Take the car. We’ll be leaving by jet anyway.”

The gesture is kind and, in Jason’s opinion, probably more than Maya deserves. However, he complies with decision, tossing the keys to its new owner. 

“Ready to go, Ms. Potts?” Jason asks, falling into step beside her.

Pepper nods slowly. “Yes.”

»•«

The flight time from California to Tennessee is usually around four hours. With JARVIS piloting the Stark jet, he promises the time to be closer to three. In the meantime, Pepper and Jason talk. 

“Thank you for saving me.” Pepper says, as soon as they’re both settled.

“Are you alright, Ms. Potts?”

“Call me Pepper, and yes, I’m fine,” she replies. “How did you know that Maya was lying?”

“It was no problem,” he says. “I knew because of how she reacted. She was undoubtedly keeping information from you. I suspect that she would’ve used you or Tony later.”

“Oh.” Pepper heaves a sigh. “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you exactly? Tony obviously trusts you enough, as he told me to go with you, but I’ve only ever met you once. Are you an Avenger?” 

She doesn’t recall ever hearing about him as an Avenger. There was Tony as Iron Man, Steve Rogers as Captain America, Thor the Asgardian Thunder God, Natalie, no, Natasha Romanoff, with another SHIELD agent named Clint Barton, and Doctor Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk. There had never been an official announcement regarding the full roster of the super team (and she’s pretty sure that they’re awaiting Thor’s return before they take that step), but she’s read the Avengers Initiative file alongside Tony. And those files had only included those six. 

She clearly remembers being introduced to each member by Tony, and Doctor Banner has been introduced alongside Jason. The doctor had been timid and somewhat awkward during the meeting, while Jason had been more reserved but polite. She’s hadn’t even been informed of his last name. 

As if heading her thoughts, Jason twists his lips into a parody of a smile. The sight makes Pepper suspect that it must only be for her benefit, considering the man didn’t look the type to smile very often. Still, it did help to comfort her. 

_ Tony trusts him,  _ she tells herself silently.  _ Which means you should too.  _

“I’m… a secret,” he finally replies. “I’m a friend. An associate of the Avengers.”

“You’re closer with Doctor Banner?” Pepper prods.

Jason nods. “I came here with him.”

“And you were already on your way to Malibu, when the mansion was attacked?”

“Yes. I meant to come sooner, but Tony insisted I take his private jet. After I witnessed the attack on the news, I decided to go to you and get you to safety before I met him.”

“Well, I thank you for that,” Pepper says, offering a small, shaky smile.

“It’s what Tony would’ve wanted,” Jason says in acknowledgment.

“Have you spoken to him?” Pepper asks anxiously. “He left me a message telling me he was alive. But I have no idea where he is, and now he’s planning on  _ taking the Mandarin on himself,  _ and I just—” She stops. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“I haven’t gotten the chance to speak to him, no,” Jason begins. “But I plan to get to him soon enough.”

“Get to him?” Pepper’s jaw drops. “How? I thought he’d lost communications?”

“I know his suspected location thanks to JARVIS, and it shouldn’t be hard to find him on my own,” Jason informs her. “Which reminds me, JARVIS? Where is Tony now?” He takes out his Stark Phone, the newest edition, which Pepper hadn’t been aware he had. 

_ “I lost contact with Sir approximately a half hour ago,”  _ JARVIS informs. _ “He crash landed around 5 miles off of Rose Hill, Tennessee after the suit ran out of power. At that point, I believe he hiked a mile to a gas station to leave you his message, Ms. Potts. Assuming he walked, with the suit, at about 2 miles per hour, he should be reaching Rose Hill right about now.” _

“Thank you, JARVIS.” Pepper sighs. “But what are we going to do now?”

“You will be taken straight to Stark Tower for safety,” Jason tells her. “All the Avengers are currently away and are not available, but Doctor Banner is still in the tower and he’ll be able to keep you safe.”

“Alright.” Pepper swallows thickly. “And you?”

“I’m going to have JARVIS drop me off in nearby Rose Hill, before he brings you to New York. Then I’ll meet up with Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't obvious enough, Jason just saved Pepper from getting kidnapped by Killian. Yay for Jason! Originally, I was going to have Tony keep his phone, but that was dropped last second because I realized that idea had some mega plot holes xD
> 
> Word of warning: next week is an super busy week for me, so there might not be an update... I'll try to get it through tho; I've already started writing Chapter Three.
> 
> _Next Chapter: Jason and Tony meet up. Need I say more?_


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so late, guys, I'm so sorry!! I have no excuses. (Except that I was busy and lazy. So I guess I have an excuse.) 
> 
> Anyway... enjoy!!

When Jason had first boarded the Stark jet, he’d boarded prepared. He’d packed a backpack full of supplies, including some wads of money, changes in clothes (for hot and cold weather), some of his passports and IDs (both real and fake), suitable weapons, and a handful of other supplies and gadgets (including an extra phone, because Jason had predicted the necessity) that he thought he or Tony might need. 

After JARVIS finally docks the jet a little aways from Rose Hill, Jason departs with his pack slipped around his shoulders, his phone in hand, a gun clipped to his belt, and each of Tony’s gifted pens tucked safely in his pockets. 

It takes him all of two minutes to figure out Tony’s location. The sound of gun shots guides his way, along with shouts from bystanders on the streets. Jason arrives just in time to see Tony—dressed in a blue shirt and a red jacket, looking maybe a little scratched up, but otherwise no worse for wear—leap into a nearby diner window.

It takes Jason less than a second to get a read on the situation. The initial gunshot came from a man with a handgun, tall and lean and with a build that didn’t look very threatening, even though Jason’s instincts told him that the man was much more dangerous than he appeared. The next shots rang from a rifle in the hand of a red haired woman dressed a business suit, radiating the same aura of danger.

_ Government agent, then,  _ he concludes. _ Or at least someone pretending to be one. _

At this point, Jason’s attention splits between both foes. As people dart for cover in a frenzy around him, he notices that, in contrast to the woman, the man’s attention is no longer focused on Tony. Instead, it’s focused on a little boy ducking behind a telephone pole. 

Jason breaks into action. In one hand, he flips his gun from his belt and releases three shots: one at the woman’s shoulder, another angled non-fatally at her backside, and the third at her leg. The woman drops at the impact, but a moment later she crawls back onto her feet, through sheer willpower and certainly something more. She doesn’t even clutch at her wounds, instead veering around with a twisted,  _ unnatural, _ red glare. Her eyes are wild, crimson, and furious as they focus on Jason’s form. 

He hardly meets her gaze, his eyes dismissing her coolly as he continues on his intended path. The reaction had given him the information he’d suspected.

She bares her teeth for a moment, undoubtedly contemplating whether or not she should intercept him. 

But Jason isn’t surprised when she twists away. With a snarl, she shakes off her suit jacket to reveal a torn white dress shirt underneath. He watches as the bullet holes in her back burn with something resembling embers underneath her skin. They close up in front of his eyes, leaving only the holes in the shirt as evidence of what he’d done. 

_ Super healing, like Cap, _ Jason catalogues automatically.  _ Able to take and regenerate non-lethal wounds in seconds…  _ He wonders if the same applied for lethal wounds, and if he should test the theory.  _ Some kind of new supersoldier? _

Jason doesn’t get the chance to explore that thought, as the woman barrels through the window after Tony. Trusting Tony to handle himself, Jason allows her to go, turning his attention towards the last man instead. The man who was just beginning to close in on a defenseless kid.

Continuing on his intended path, Jason shifts his gun to his right hand and uses his left to take his clicker pen from his left pocket. Moving quickly, Jason aims a shot at the man’s back.

The man whips around in an outrage, attention on the child briefly forgotten, as his eyes—the same burning red as the woman—settle on Jason, the one who’d shot him. 

Smoothly, Jason closes the distance between himself and the man, ignoring the man’s furious roar and following his instincts when the man throws a wild fist. He ducks under the punch, shifting his position to place himself in between the man and the kid. He nudges the kid on his foot, eyes not leaving the the man, to give him the chance to flee. 

The kid does, running to the other side of the street to hide behind a parked car. 

Seeing this, the man growls, snapping forwards for another hit, hands glowing an eerie red. 

Jason sidesteps easily, spinning on his heel. The dodge is clean, but the proximity is enough. Jason feels the heat radiating off the man like a thermostat. He retreats half a step and changes his stance; getting hit now would likely feel like falling in fire. 

Jason leans on the balls of his feet, evading each attempted punch. As the fight progresses, he sees the man get visibly angrier, his eyes a scorching crimson, his hands rippling and shimmering. This needed to end  _ soon,  _ Jason knew. Or else the man might actually explode. 

Although his movements don’t falter, Jason’s thoughts halt momentarily as the puzzle pieces come together.  _ Explosion,  _ he realizes, processing his thoughts rapidly,  _ The Mandarin attacks. These enhanced people of fire.  _ They’re _ the explosions.  _

He doesn’t know if his guess is correct, but, eyeing the man in front of him, he also didn’t want to find out. 

He had to end this soon. 

Sliding around another furious blow, Jason lifts his gun to fire one more shot—this time at the shoulder. The man, although otherwise unaffected, is blown slightly backwards from the force of the shot. Using this opportunity, Jason activates his taser pen, spinning the knob at the top until it reaches its highest setting. A new feature that Tony had recently added, the knob allowed Jason to select how high he wanted the voltage to be.

At the highest setting, the voltage was high enough to kill a person in seconds.

Jason figures that this wouldn’t be the case here, considering the man had survived his bullet shots with ease. 

Jason isn’t particularly keen on outright killing someone in the streets, anyway—and certainly not in front of a child—so he takes the bet that the pen would only knock the man out and nothing more. 

Sliding forward, Jason again closes the distance between his foe, swiveling away from the man’s lunge and using his gun to smack the man in the face. The man falters at the hit, his jaw dropping as his skin again glows the blazing red, and then the bruise, too, begins to heal. 

Jason doesn’t waste a second. While the man stands there, momentarily stunned, Jason lunges forwards, dropping the gun to his waist and pressing down on his pen’s top. Blue electricity crackles to life as Jason none too gently slams the taser into the man’s side. 

The man’s eyes roll to the back of his head, but his body stays frozen, limbs trapped in place. 

It was a gamble, Jason knew, hoping the taser would overpower the man’s enhancements. He’d bet that the blast of electricity would work so quickly and be powerful enough to ultimately shut the man’s body down. 

_ And it worked, _ Jason notes, as the man’s body drops, trembling and quivering on the ice covered ground.  _ It was fire vs electricity. And electricity won.  _

Jason bends down to check the man’s pulse, dipping his fingers into the snow before pressing them onto a vein on the man’s neck. The cold snow dries up instantly on the still heated skin, but the gesture is enough; he senses a pulse.

Finished, Jason stands, attention turning to the broken diner window where Tony and the woman had crashed through only minutes ago. He straightens, preparing to go to Tony’s aid—before a small figure comes tumbling in front of him.

It’s the kid he’d saved—a pale, blond, messy haired kid, dressed in a worn red jacket with a blue sweater underneath. 

“That was  _ amazing!  _ Thank you for saving me!” The kid says, gushing with excitement. He skitters to a stop right in front of Jason, blue eyes impossibly wide. And not from fear, but from  _ admiration.  _ “Are you an Avenger? A friend of Mr. Stark’s?”

Before Jason gets the chance to reply, the kid bounds forwards again, hopping neatly over the body shuddering in front of him. 

“That’s  _ so cool! _ ” He exclaims, pointing to Jason’s taser pen. “Did Mr. Stark give that to you?”

Jason doesn’t reply, tucking his weapon back into his pocket. “Are you alright?” He asks.

“I’m fine,” the kid’s reply is instant. Proudly, he declares, “My name’s Harley Keener. I was helping Mr. Stark before, after I found him in my—”

An explosion interrupts him, big and loud enough to be seen and heard from the outskirts of town. The kid—Harley—stops mid sentence, his mouth dropped open. If possible, the kid’s eyes go even wider. 

“Stay here,” Jason says, maybe a little too roughly. The explosion had come from the diner that Tony had been chased into. 

He sprints over to the remains of the building, feeling his heart stutter in his chest. It’s a repeat of Marie all over again. Suddenly, he’s back in that moment: in the murky river water, trapped inside of a car, trying and failing to save his love’s life. 

_ Not again, _ he thinks, his eyes scanning the remains of the explosion, searching for any sign of life. Had he effectively chosen to let Tony die, in choosing to go for Harley instead? 

Standing in the middle of the street and absolutely powerless, Jason abruptly feels very cold. 

A couple seconds pass by, and it feels like eternity, even if Jason knows it’s only been seven. 

And then, in true Tony Stark fashion, Tony emerges from the smoke and flames without looking back. Jason notes his appearance reflexively; he looks mostly unharmed, scratched and roughed up in a few places, but otherwise fine. 

If he had any less control, he might've sighed in relief. Instead, he rushes over to the genius, who stops dead in his tracks. 

“ _ Jason? _ ” Tony’s jaw drops. “What are you doing here?”

“You knew I was coming.”

“Well, yeah—“ Tony protests. “To  _ Malibu. _ ”

“I went there,” Jason says, “Now I’m here.”

“I can see that.” He eyes Jason slowly, if even cautiously, giving what Jason knows must be a onceover. His gaze leaves Jason and tracks to Harley, who Jason knows hadn’t bothered to follow his instruction, and then to the body of the man, which now lay motionless on the ground across the street. He visibly gulps. 

“I didn’t kill him,” Jason says, before Tony can comment. He adds, “I used your gift to take him. After he went after Harley.”

Tony’s eyes instantly dart over to the the child in question’s small form. “Kid, he didn’t hurt you, right?”

“I’m good, Mr. Stark,” Harley replies with a confident smile. “Your friend saved me.”

“Right,” Tony says quickly. “This is my friend, Jason, and Jason, obviously you’ve already met the kid here—”

“Maybe we should take this off the streets?” Jason suggests. He gestures slightly to the people who have slowly begun to return to the once abandoned streets. Prying eyes and low whispers were beginning to come in their direction. Everyone was still on edge and curious over the gunshots and explosion; it would only be a matter of time before the body of the not-dead man was also noticed.

“Right,” Tony says again. “But first, I have to get what I came for. There are files that I left in the bar—they relate to to this. To the Mandarin and all of this. That’s why those people were chasing me.”

Jason nods. “Okay, you can go get those and then we’ll leave.”

“Wait!” Harley calls.  He attempts to discreetly point to the body. “What about… that?”

Tony turns to expectantly to Jason, who shrugs. “He’s not dead, so it wouldn’t be a disaster to leave him there. People will probably assume he fainted during the gunshots. At some point, he’ll wake up on his own.” 

“Yeah,” Tony adds, “And I guess it would be more conspicuous if we did try to move the body.”

»•«

“Pepper?” Is the first word that escapes Tony’s mouth after they’ve all safely reached Harley’s garage. 

In the end, Jason had brought Harley to cover while Tony had went to retrieve the files. Afterwards, Tony had wanted to head out right away, the files clutched in his arms like a lifeline, but Jason had stoutly refused. “Sorry Tony,” Jason had been apologetic, even if his tone didn’t reveal as much. “I want to take a look at the suit first, and we need to go over where we are with everything.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we got out of town ASAP?” Tony had pestered. “They’ll probably send reinforcements soon. Or worse, the guys chasing me will come back from the dead and find us themselves.”

“I’m sure their first priorities won’t be to look for us,” Jason had replied. “They’ll talk to their reinforcements first. And we won’t be here long enough for them to send more people.”

“Alright…” Tony had finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. 

And now here they were.

“She’s fine,” Jason informs. “I went to Malibu and picked her up. Made it just in time; she was about to go with a woman named Maya Hansen, who claimed her boss was working with the Mandarin. A man named Aldrich Killian.” Recognition flashes in Tony’s eyes, and Jason knows that they would be discussing this later. He finishes, “I didn’t trust her. So I got Pepper on the Stark jet but first had it drop me off here. It should be reaching Stark Tower right about now. Bruce will take care of her there.”

“Oh, I forgot about Maya,” Tony groans, bringing a hand to his head. “I’m glad you got Pepper away. I snuck a peek at the files and I think that she plays a large role in all this. Her hanging around Pepper would’ve done no good.”

“I knew she was lying,” Jason says. “But Pepper should be safe with Bruce while we handle this. What was so important about the files?”   


“They’re—” Tony stops, eyes landing on the small figure in the corner. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about them here. I haven’t really gotten to look at them anyway.”

“Don’t mind me,” Harley pipes up innocently. He’s sitting on the couch beside the roughed up Iron Man suit that was currently recharging, observing in wide-eyed awe. 

“We can look at them when we leave,” Jason agrees. “In the meantime…” Without looking, he reaches a hand in his bag, feeling through it. Finally, he finds his intended object.

“Here,” he says, tossing Tony the extra phone he’d brought with him.

Tony catches the phone easily, shifting the familiar object in his hand. “Thanks,” the genius says, shifting the new Stark Phone between his fingers. Nimbly, he powers the phone on and navigates through its settings. “Mine was lost during the attack.”

Jason nods. “JARVIS told me. I had him load your backup into that one.”

“Wow, Goldbond, you thought of everything!” Tony grins, his words light and his eyes grateful. “Speaking of JARVIS—”

Before Tony gets to finish, Harley, who had been watching them converse acutely, dives for him. “Is that the new Stark Phone?” The boy gasps, as he brakes just a foot away from the billionaire. His blue eyes are wide with wonder, his hands twitching just inches away from Tony’s new phone. 

“Not quite,” Tony says, wiggling the device teasingly in front of Harley’s face.

The kid’s jaw drops. “No way,” he bites out, barely able process his words. “It’s  _ even newer! _ ” He surges forwards, stars in his eyes, but Tony dance’s out of his reach.

“Nah ah, Harley,” Tony teases some more. “This is new, and Jason just brought it to me.”

“Aw, come on, Mr. Stark!” Harley begs, jutting out his bottom lip. Jason nearly smiles at the display; he could see Tony visibly breaking. “I did everything you asked me before. Can I see it?”

“Say the magic words.”

“Please?” 

Tony shakes his head.    


“Iron Man?”

“Close.”

“Iron Man is awesome?” Harley tries.

“Even closer.”

Jason takes a seat, realizing where this was going. 

“Iron Man… is the best?”

Tony clicks his tongue. “Even  _ closer. _ ”

“Iron Man is… the best Avenger!” 

Tony snaps his finger. “You got it,” he cheers, tossing the phone Harley’s way.

Harley’s tiny hands barely manages to catch the prize, and when he does he holds the device gingerly between his fingers, like it could break at any second. 

“You don’t have to do that, kid,” Tony says. “A fall wouldn’t break it that easily.”

“What model is this?” Harley asks, shifting through it in wonder. “Will it be on the market soon?”

“It’s the newest model,” Tony informs. “A private model. Only given to specific people.”

“Like the Avengers?”

“Well, yeah. And like Jason here.”

Harley’s eyes dart over to Jason, then over to Tony, and then back to the phone. “What can it do?”

Tony grins. “Wanna see?” He neatly plucks the phone from Harley’s grasp. Swiping a bit, he activates the holographic projector and calls, “JARVIS?”

The hologram shifts blue as a familiar British voice responds,  _ “Nice to see you’re alive, Sir.” _

Tony’s grin widens at JARVIS’s words, and Jason feels himself smile as well. “Can’t get rid of me that easily, J.”

_ “Wouldn’t dream of it, Sir,”  _ JARVIS responds dryly.  _ “Now may I ask what the status is on the Mark 42?” _

Jason’s attention is instantly piqued.  _ Mark 42? Since when did Tony make 41 suits? _ He resolves to ask Tony that question later.

Unbeknownst to this, Tony replies quickly, “It’s fine. Rebooting as we speak. As soon as it comes back up, you’ll have access again. And then I want you to do some tracking for me.”

_ “Of course, Sir,”  _ JARVIS dutifully replies.  _ “What would you like me to track?” _

“I’ll know that as soon as I check out these files,” Tony says, eyeing said files expectantly. “In the meantime, I want you to continue looking for possible Mandarin base locations. Look into one Aldrich Killian. He’s shady. He met with Pepper, and then Jason said that Maya Hansen claimed he was working for the Mandarin. I’ll give you more data as soon as I can.”

_ “I’ll get right on it, Sir.”  _

“Okay.” Tony drops the phone in his pocket. He turns to Jason, signalling their dismissal, who straightens his spine in response. 

“Ready to go?”

“Ready when you are, Buttercup.” Tony smiles. “Choose our mode of transportation yet?”

“Depends on where we’re going.”

“We’ll figure that out soon enough.”

“Alright,” Jason shrugs, “Then we’ll take a car.”

“Good.” Tony nods. “I wanted to stop off at the nearest convenience store first anyway.”

And with that, Jason stands, shouldering his bag and taking his place at Tony’s side. Tony, with the files in hand, leads the way. But before they can leave, a plea stops them.

“Wait!” Harley scrambles over. “Take me with you.” He pulls out his big, doe-eyed look again, complete with the quivering bottom lip. Tony shifts, unimpressed. 

“Absolutely not,” he says, his tone booking no room for argument. “ _ You _ have a job to do, mister.”

“I do?” The kid perks up considerably. 

“Yes,” Tony says solemnly. “You’re in charge of watching the Iron Man suit while me and Jason are gone. I want you to keep an ear out on your phone for my call while the suit reboots. JARVIS can keep you company. Think you can do that?”

Harley nods eagerly. “Of course! JARVIS is the man you were talking to on your phone, right?”

“Yes, I was talking to him. Except he isn’t a man, he’s my AI.”

“ _ Cool! _ ”

“Okay then, we good, kid?” Tony asks one more time. “Like I said, we’re only headed to the convenience store first. To buy a few more supplies.” He shares a look with Jason, and they begin to head out. “Oh, and make sure my suit stays near a door so that it doesn’t bust a window when I call it to me.”

“You got it!” 

»•«

“So, what do you have in that bag of yours?” 

Jason spares a glance at the now exploring genius, who didn’t bother to ask for permission before curiously sifting through his bag. The air in the (stolen) vehicle is comfortable and familiar. “Clothes,” Jason lists, “Passports. Weapons. Some money.”

“Oh good!” Tony grins, pausing his search to lift a wad of cash out of the bag. “I forgot we’d need money at the store.”

“Why exactly are we headed to the store?” Jason asks, not taking his eyes off the road. He remembers passing a convenience store on their way back to Harley’s house; he knew that at the speed he was currently driving, they would arrive within two minutes.

“I just need to grab some things,” Tony says, zipping Jason’s bag shut.

“Like?” He pulls into the convenience store parking lot.

“Like… I don’t know, snacks maybe. It might be a long drive, right?” Tony shrugs. He exits the car. “You coming?”

Jason doesn’t respond, but his step out of the opened doorway is telling enough. 

“We still have to take a look at those files, after all.” He continues, unperturbed. Those files which, Jason knew, were currently tucked under Tony’s vest. “Also, I wanted to buy candy.”

Jason shoves his hands into his pockets and gives the store a good scan. There’s barely anyone there; including the cashier, Tony, and himself, that left a grand total of 5 people. None of whom looked at all threatening. He raises an eyebrow and gives Tony a look. “Candy?”

Tony, bent on his knees and unashamedly shoving bags of mixed sugary treats into his basket, ignores Jason’s look. “For the kid. How can I expect him to watch out for my suit if he’s half asleep?”

The explanation makes Jason want to chuckle. “You can’t give him coffee so—”

“So I’m giving him candy.” 

Jason quirks a fond smile at that. Without another word, he drops down to help Tony with the bags of candy and snacks. As far as road trips went, he figures from memory, snacks would always help. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!! :D I'm not sure if I hit on everything I needed to hit, so don't be surprised if I edit something later on. (Of course I'll tell you guys if I do.) 
> 
> Ah, sorry again for the delay guys. No promises for when the next chapter will be up, but no worries, I have a sister who will bug me until I write... so it shouldn't be _too_ long.
> 
>  
> 
> _Next Chapter: Roadtrip! Fun activities may include: a call with Rhodey, file reading, a n g s t maybe?, and some bad guy base break-ins. Not necessarily in that order and not necessarily guaranteed. :)_

**Author's Note:**

> I know this intro isn't as action-packed as The Seventh Avenger - so sorry! :) 
> 
> Regarding the update schedule for this one, I'll try to keep it to once a week, like always, but the problem is - before, for The Seventh Avenger, I had chapters saved up so it was okay if I kinda slacked. But for this one, I don't... so that means this'll be updated as I write them. That shouldn't be much of problem, if it weren't for the fact that I haven't gotten the chance to rewatch IM3 so I don't know the timeline of the movie or the scene orders. T^T 
> 
> _Next chapter: The mansion goes boom! Oh, and Jason arrives._


End file.
